With the proliferation of personal computers and the advent of the Internet, the number of services and applications that are available to the public have increased dramatically. Specifically, software applications and services are available from a number of locations and online via the Internet that may be executed in the average user's personal computer, etc.
For example, many different software applications exist that may be used to print or otherwise render documents. Such applications often allow a user to create a digital document that is stored in a memory. The specific digital format of the digital document is often a proprietary format that is compatible with the specific application employed in its creation. For example, one may create digital documents using software packages such as Microsoft Word created by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. or Adobe Acrobat created by Adobe Systems, Inc., of San Jose, Calif.
Given that there are many different formats in which digital documents or other files may be embodied, it sometimes happens that a user may have access to such documents or other files on their computer system without the corresponding application necessary to render the digital document or other file for printing or viewing, etc. For example, a user may receive such a document or other file as an attachment over the Internet via electronic mail. When the corresponding application is not installed on the user's computer, a user may be prevented from rendering or otherwise accessing and exploiting the specific document or file for print, viewing, or other operation, etc.
Also, in some situations, a user may not have an up-to-date version of an application on their computer system. For example, in printing documents, often a driver is employed by a computer system to communicate with a printer and to perform other printing operations. From time to time a more recent version of a driver currently employed by a user's computer system may be available. However, unless the user manually performs the actions necessary to obtain the more recent version of the driver, the older driver will continually be used. Consequently, a user may not receive any benefits associated with the newer version of the driver.